Melania Trump looks unrecognisable in candid monochrome photos from her teen modelling days
SHE’S the glamorous, perfectly-polished and immaculately turned out First Lady of the United States of America.
But monochrome portraits of Melania Trump, taken during her teen modelling days in 1987, give a candid insight to The Donald’s wife before she set her sights on the White House.
The photographs, taken by renowned snapper Stane Jerko, show a then-17-year-old Melanija Knavs – as she was formerly known - in her native Slovenia looking fresh-faced in a number of laid back looks.
Stane revealed he was desperate to snap the youngster after spotting her in the street.
Recalling their meeting, he said: “I was leaving a fashion show in Ljubljana and saw her in front of the building. She was probably waiting for a friend.
"She was tall and slim so she caught my eye and I approached her and suggested that she come in for a trial photo shoot.";
The result is a series of stunning images that showcase her innocence and natural beauty.
In one, a make-up-free Melania looks shy and awkward as she grins at the camera.
She wears a sleeveless cable knit top and her brunette hair is piled on top of her head in a messy bun.
In another, she highlights fashions from the decade in a pair of cropped high-waisted jeans, which are left unbuttoned, a simple white vest top and espadrilles.
The final shot sees Melania pull a provocative pose in a strapless, skin-tight white dress that features lace detailing underneath the bust.
The stylish shoot gave Melania her first real break, setting her on the path to fulfil her dream of leaving Slovenia for a career in fashion.
Not long afterwards, she abandoned her industrial design degree, moved to Milan and then New York, where she met Donald Trump in 1998.
Melania’s beginnings were extremely humble and a world away from the lavish New York lifestyle she enjoys now.
She grew up in a modest apartment in a concrete housing block in Sevinca, Solvenia, with her dad Viktor Knavs, a car dealership manager, and mum Amalija, a patternmaker.
Melania was the runner-up in a ‘Look of the Year’ magazine competition and went on to work for fashion houses across Italy and France before relocating to America.
In 1996 she met Trump at a fashion week party – he was still married to his second wife Marla Maples at the time but the pair were living separately.
While in the Big Apple, Melania’s modelling career rocketed and she posed for a number of high-profile glossies including Harper’s Bazaar, Vanity Fair, Vogue and In Style Weddings.
She posed in her bikini for the 2000 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue and stripped off to star in GQ.
GQ editor Dylan Jones said: “We pushed the envelope a little. [It’s] not exactly the kind of thing we could have asked anyone else to do – and we were surprised she said yes.”
Melania and Trump got engaged in 2004 and they walked up the aisle in January 2005.
The brunette strutted down the aisle in Palm Beach, Florida, in a £150,000 gown by John Galliano.
Celebrity guests included Heidi Klum, P Diddy, Simon Cowell and Hilary Clinton.
A year later, Melania gave birth to the couple’s first and only child together, son Barron William Trump.
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While her husband courts controversy with his views, Melania is described as friendly and approachable.
Shoe designer Manolo Blahnik called her as a “true beauty” while gossip columnist Liz Smith says she’s a “very, very nice person”.
Melania’s hairdresser once said she is “incapable of being mean”.
When she’s not at her husband’s side, Melania runs a jewellery line, which is sold on QVC, and a caviar skincare line.
She is also speaks five languages – Slovenian, English, French, Serbian and German.
Melania has supported Donald’s US campaign bid from the start saying in 2015: “I encouraged him because I know what he will do and what he can do for America.
“He loves the American people and he wants to help them.”
She’s previously said she will be a “very traditional” First Lady like “Betty Ford or Jackie Kennedy”.